Big Bad Voodoo Daddy Concert Review - Anaheim House of Blues
Published May 01, 2005
In the middle of it was Scotty Morris, who put on a show for the ages. With a martini lounge croon that could change up with delightful ease, he owned an audience that was left hanging for more as each song sadly ended.
Each member of the band clearly loved being there, being part of the dance, digging the scene and blowing great music. It's the kind of party you always want to be at, the kind of party you wish every party can be. The musicians played it up with frolic and antics, swaying from side-to-side, doing circles and figure-eights on stage, even stumbling around "drunk" near the end of You & Me. It was picture-perfect professionalism all around and maximum energy and vibe and wit.
The House of Blues was the perfect receptacle for the brand of musical religion the Voodoo Daddy preached. From my seat off the loge-level balcony, I looked down and saw fans resting their arms on the stage, fingers snapping, palms popping, creating a perfect and intimate enclosure to receive exquisite sounds. The acoustics were outstanding and perfect for the mix of horns, bass, and jive daddy groove.
You couldn't ask more from a venue, a band, a party, a night.
It took me back to Swingers and my old traveling days, but more than anything it showed me what it means to live in the moment, to do what you love, to share it with others, to put it all out there to shine because you've worked your ass off and because you can. Most of all it showed me the best night I've had in a long time.
My wife and I sat next to a couple and began chatting away toward the latter part of the show. The gent, it turned out, was the manager of the Anaheim House of Blues. Clearly as enthralled as I by the show, he talked about how the House attracts a lot of punk bands nowadays, and how it's a shame that there weren't more bands out there like Big Bad Voodoo Daddy nowadays.
I couldn't disagree.
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- Big Bad Voodoo Daddy Concert Review - Anaheim House of Blues
- Published: May 01, 2005
- Type: Review
- Section: Music
- Filed Under: Music: Jazz, Music: Pop, Music: Popular and Standards, Music: Rock, Music: Soundtracks
- Writer: Eric Berlin
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Comments on this articleComments
They were better than my highest expectations.
One element I toyed with putting in the piece but didn't: I haven't been overjoyed at their studio albums -- they haven't translated that manic swing energy to record as far as I've seen.
Definitely see them in as small a venue as possible (which I suppose is true of most bands). The House of Blues was about 1,000 people and was perfect -- any bigger would start to lose the party feel.
Brian Setzer was much the same way. I saw him open for Bob Dylan (go figure) about 7 years ago. I was never a huge fan of his albums, but he had the crowd going crazy.
I'm sure you've seen them live, but Reel Big Fish put on a damn good show as well. They're also fortunate enough to translate to album.
That's funny that you've assumed that I've seen Reel Big Fish. I've seen them live a few times and you're right: they're great. A friend of mine once scoffed that the Fish are good "for a college band." I disagree -- they're fun and they're good and they write some damn good songs. That said, I didn't like their most recent album much at all, save for "Rock 'n Roll is Bitchin'" which was fairly bitchin'.
I imagine that Setzer would fall in similar territory as BBVD. I'm not that thrilled to hear a recording of his (not that I'm turned off... just not that turned on) but I imagine a live show would be great.
I'm not trying to be "that guy," but when I saw Reel Big Fish I was pretty excited to hear their cover of "Kiss Me Deadly" and many of their radio/more popular songs. I can't remember if they played "Sell Out," but "Beer" and "Trendy" were certainly at the show.
Any band that's willing to get on stage, have a good time, and make some off color jokes is perfectly fine in my book. Well, so long as they have the talent to rock the house.
I think I assumed you'd seen them because of a list of punk bands I saw on your site a while back. They're not necessarily punk, but even passive ska fans get into them.
Ah, I see. Yeah, they're a great ska-rock band, I guess. Not really punk, though the easiest category to throw them in would be ska-punk, I suppose.
They have a great and snarky writing style that I always dug on, especially on songs like "In the Pit," where they call out drunk asshole frat boys who wear wife-beaters and, we are told, "punch and kick" whilst in the pit. Groupie alterno-chicks don't get off easy with them either.
"Trendy" is one of my faves of theirs -- great song, fun as hell and an awesome fast-paced beat.
Eric, the pickings were a little slim for a mn scanning the category (me) but regardless I would have moved this up to Advance.net except that ... ... Wait, I did.
To Advance.net which collectively is read by hundreds of thousands per week. The link there is just to the Cleveland site.
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Very nice Eric. I've wanted to see them in concert for a long time. It sounds like they're as good as I've always expected.